Thiol Redox and pKa Properties of Mycothiol,the Predominant Low‐Molecular‐Weight Thiol Cofactor in the Actinomycetes

The thiol pK_a and standard redox potential of mycothiol, the major low‐molecular‐weight thiol cofactor in the actinomycetes, are reported. The measured standard redox potential reveals substantial discrepancies in one or more of the other previously measured intracellular parameters that are relevant to mycothiol redox biochemistry.     

Buffer Management Issues in the Implementation of Fast Interprocess Communication

This paper presents our experience with building a cross-domain object invocation mechanism that is conscious about memory usage. Cross-domain object invocation issues are very similar to cross-domain procedure call issues. Although the cross-domain procedure call performance issues have been discussed widely, there is very little reference to issues regarding space. It is a typical example of a case where the issues arising in practice are more complicated than the ones described in the reference literature. Our mechanism is discussed in terms of the Spring modular operating system, but the same principles are applicable to other operating systems. The Spring system is a distributed computing environment running on a networked collection of computers. Each individual Spring system is based around a microkernel known as the nucleus. The nucleus is structured to support fast and secure cross address-space object invocations. Most of the traditional operating system services are provided by servers running as user-mode domains. In a system such as Spring, fast, secure, and space-efficient cross-domain invocation is extremely important. Argument buffers are used to pass data from one process to another. For fast cross address-space procedure calls the maximum size of this buffer should accommodate a small number of page frames. In typical contemporary architectures this size varies between 5 and 10K. In a system such as Spring, where there is a large number of active calls, this size leads to excessive memory usage. Earlier measurements have shown that at run-time the marshalled form of the arguments of most of the calls is less than a hundred bytes. Copying page size objects is the only notable exception. Our implementation uses small 128 byte buffers by default. A very fast mechanism is used to extend the small buffer for calls with marshaled arguments that do not fit in the small buffer. Therefore, it is very space efficient and does not affect the overall system performance. Measurements from our implementation that support these claims are presented.     

Predicting the function and subcellular location of Caenorhabditis elegans proteins similar to Saccharomyces cerevisiae beta-oxidation enzymes

The role of peroxisomal processes in the maintenance of neurons has not been thoroughly investigated. We propose using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for studying the molecular basis underlying neurodegeneration in certain human peroxisomal disorders, e.g. Zellweger syndrome, since the nematode neural network is well characterized and relatively simple in function. Here we have identified C. elegans PEX-5 (C34C6.6) representing the receptor for peroxisomal targeting signal type 1 (PTS1), defective in patients with such disorders. PEX-5 interacted strongly in a two-hybrid assay with Gal4p-SKL, and a screen using PEX-5 identified interaction partners that were predominantly terminated with PTS1 or its variants. A list of C. elegans proteins with similarities to well-characterized yeast beta-oxidation enzymes was compiled by homology probing. The possible subcellular localization of these orthologues was predicted using an algorithm based on trafficking signals. Examining the C termini of selected nematode proteins for PTS1 function substantiated predictions made regarding the proteins' peroxisomal location. It is concluded that the eukaryotic PEX5-dependent route for importing PTS1-containing proteins into peroxisomes is conserved in nematodes. C. elegans might emerge as an attractive model system for studying the importance of peroxisomes and affiliated processes in neurodegeneration, and also for studying a beta-oxidation process that is potentially compartmentalized in both mitochondria and peroxisomes.     

拉直倾斜的建筑

<正>George Cairns告诉我们如何使用镜头校正命令完善建筑摄影作品我们敢打赌大部分建筑都有拔地而起的90度垂直外墙。但是在拍摄建筑物照片的时候,由于透视畸变,所有垂直线条向一点汇聚,外墙的下半部分往往要比上半部分看上去宽很多。     

伊莫·麦凯伯

<正>Sylyester Mittee"我使用一支180mm镜头将画面聚焦在紧紧缠绕的绷带上。我看到过有些广告画面明显在模仿这幅作品,但他们永远无法捕捉这样一幅完美作品的精髓。轻微晃动给画面带来了独特的氛围。"     

Evidence for mineral matter forms in coal liquefaction extracts

High- and low-temperature ashes from feed coal, coal extract solution and filter cake from a two-stage coal liquefaction process have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (SEM/EDX). Hydrocracking experiments using alumina support only, in place of the active Ni/Mo catalyst on alumina, were also carried out, with trace metal analysis of the coal extract solution feed and hydrocracked extracts using atomic absorption and emission spectroscopy. The major mineral transformations occurring were of pyrite to pyrrhotite and the fixation of organic sulphur by calcium carbonate. Mineral particles were not observed in the coal extract solution ashes, even under high magnification, and the study indicated that size alone was not a determining factor as to whether a coal mineral was to be found in a coal-derived liquid. None of the trace metals was deposited on the alumina support under hydrocracking conditions, in marked contrast to the results obtained with the normal Ni/Mo catalyst. These results lead to the conclusion that for the deposition of trace elements to occur a reaction must take place and hence the trace elements must be chemically bound in some form.     

Review of selenium toxicity in the aquatic food chain

In many environmental contaminant situations selenium has become the primary element of concern because of its bioaccumulative nature in food webs. Initial concerns about selenium were related to fish kills at Belews Lake, NC, Martin Lake, TX, and Kesterson Reservoir, CA, and to bird deformities at Kesterson Reservoir. Additional concerns were identified under the National Irrigation Water Quality Program at Salton Sea, CA, Kendrick, WY, Stewart Lake, UT, and Grand Valley and Uncompahgre Valley, CO. Recent studies have raised concerns about selenium impacts on aquatic resources in Southeastern Idaho and British Columbia. The growing discomfort among the scientific community with a waterborne criterion has lead the US Environment Protection Agency to consider a tissue-based criterion for selenium. Some aquatic ecosystems have been slow to recover from selenium contamination episodes. In recent years, non-governmental researchers have been proposing relatively high selenium thresholds in diet and tissue relative to those proposed by governmental researchers. This difference in opinions is due in part to the selection of datasets and caveats in selecting scientific literature. In spite of the growing selenium literature, there are needs for additional research on neglected organisms. This review also discusses the interaction of selenium with other elements, inconsistent effects of selenium on survival and growth of fish, and differences in depuration rates and sensitivity among species.